Doyle, you asked in the most recent thread if Camp Bragg was possibly a recruiting depot, and I thought it would be a good idea to start a new discussion on this topic, and hope that our experts on this board will throw in.

The Headquarters of the District of Arkansas moved to Camden after the fall of Little Rock on September 10, 1863; specifically, at Camp Bragg. My impression is that Camp Bragg was a new camp, intended for winter quarters. Fagan's Brigade was encamped there, and other brigades were encamped at various other camps near Camden -- Camp Kirby Smith, Camp Dick Taylor, etc.

There was great confusion as to the intentions of Federal troops after the fall of Little Rock -- lots of frantic communications about supposed Federal advances, none of which panned out. But in early 1864 most of the army moved from Camden and established new winter quarters at various locations around Washington, Arkansas, in response to those supposed Federal advances.

I've got lots of notes written by various regimental commanders regarding the move, but they deal mostly with the details of the movement, not the reason for the movement. Hopefully, our resident experts can fill in the gaps for us.